Grain elevator



Sept. 20, 1949. DELIVUK 2,482,159

GRA IN ELEVATOR F iled Feb. 20, 1946 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HTTQR/VEY Sept.20', 1949. DELlVUK 2,482,159

GRAIN ELEVATOR Filed Feb. 20, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 INVENTOR. Z0105fle/mzk ATTOR/Vf) Patented Sept. 20, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICIEGRAIN ELEVATOR Louis Delivuk, Spokane, Wash.

Application February 20, 1946, Serial No. 649,053

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a grain elevator and grain cleaner andconstitutes an improvement upon the mechanism covered by my patentissued June 24, 1941, and having Patent No. 2,246,723 and it is oneobject of the invention to provide a grain elevator having an improvedarrangement of grain pit and. elevator legs, together with means fordirecting an air blast upwardly through the elevator leg through whichbuckets move upwardly and serve as means for withdrawing dust from thegrain pit and also supplying air for re moving dirt and trash from grainas it is dumped from the buckets for delivery to storage bins.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grain elevator with afan so arranged that dust will be withdrawn from the upper portion ofthe grain pit and this dust prevented from rising into the shed over thepit and impairing the health and comfort of persons dumping grain fromthe wagons.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grain elevator means forwithdrawing dust and light seeds from the head at the upper end of theelevator legs and delivering the seeds and light grain into a separatorwhich separates the seeds and light grain from the dust so that the seedand light grain may be saved and used as poultry feed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grain elevator soconstructed that the buckets moving upwardly through an elevator legwill be prevented from striking the walls of the bucket and causingsparks which would be liable to start a fire in the elevator.

Another object or the invention is to provide in the elevator head atthe upper ends of the elevator legs a spreader board along which graindumped from the buckets flows towards a distributing spout, thusallowing dirt and light seed and grain to be very efiectively withdrawnfrom the grain and delivered to the separator.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken vertically through the improvedelevator.

Fig. 2 is a view upon an enlarged scale taken vertically through theupper portion of the improved elevator.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken vertically through the lower portion ofthe elevator.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken verticallythrough the distributor spout and the hopper from which it extends.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken transversely through the lower portionsof the elevator legs along the line 66 of Figure 1. o

This grain elevator which is indicated in general by the numeral I maybe 'of any size desired and. in many respects is similar in constructionto that disclosed i'n prior Patent 2,246,723, issued June 24, 1941. Ashed 2 is' provided at a side of the elevator and this shed has a floorin the form of a grating 3 so that when a truck or other vehicle loadedwith grain is driven into the shed and dumped the grain may flow throughthe grating and downwardly into a grain pit 4 having a sloping bottomleading to an opening 5 through which the grain passes and along anextension 4' of the bottom or the pit to an opening 6 at the lower endof an elevator leg 1. The lower end of this leg I is connected with thelower end of a companion elevator leg 8 by an elevator boot 9 whichrests upon a support ill at the bottom I l of the base of the elevator.The two elevator legs 1 and 8 extend vertically in the grain elevatorand their upper ends communicate respectively with a side and the bottomof the elevator head 12 in the head house l3 of the grain elevator. Abelt 14 extends vertically through the legs 1 and 8 with its upper andlower portions trained about pulleys I5 and I6 and the belt carries amultiplicity of buckets IT by means of which grain is lifted from theboot and the lower portion of leg 1 and then carried upwardly throughleg 7 and into the elevator head I! where it is emptied from the bucketsas they pass about the pulley l5. A spreader board l8 directs the dumpedgrain to a hopper 19 which projects downwardly from the head 12 and hasat its lower end a neck 20 about which is mounted the upper end ofadistributor spout 2|, the spout being rotatable about the neck so thatby turning the spout grain dumped from the buckets ll may be directedinto a selected one of the number of chutes 22 leading to bins in theelevator. A gasket 2-3 forms a tight joint between the spout and theneck. A sloping wall 24 is provided under the pulley [5 so that anygrain which may spill from the buckets before reaching the board l8 willbe directed into the upper end of the leg 8 and pass downwardly throughthis leg to the boot 9 where it will be again taken up by buckets andcarried upwardly through the leg I. The spreader board l8 has its lowerend spaced upwardly from the hopper IS in order that air may pass underit and enter the upper end of the leg 8, as indicated by arrows inFigure 2.

When the wheat or other grain is dumped into the pit 4 through thegrating 3 a great deal of dust and fine dirt is released, and in orderto prevent this dust from passing upwardly through the grating there hasbeen provided a suction fan 25 which is driven by an electric motor 25mounted in the elevator under the floor 28 and has its inlet neck 27passing through a wall 28 and into a pit 4 close to the grating 3, andformed with a flaring mouth 21'. This fan serves to withdrawdustandother fine dirt from the pit and discharges itthrough the outlet neck 29into the elevator leg 7 and since the neck 29 extends from the fanhousing at an upward incline the dust and dirt will be dischargedupwardly into the leg 7 and be carried upwardly through this leg intothe head I2 over the pulley l5. A pipe 30 extends from the upperportionof the head l2 and communicates with a suction fan -'3ll of the legs andcausing sparks which would be liable to cause a fire to be started inthe elevator.

There have also been provided strips '44 which extend longitudinally inthe legs 7 and 8 and are formed of material which will not cause sparksif they should be struck by edges of the buckets as the buckets movethrough the pipes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In a grain elevator having a grain pit at a side thereof, elevator legsextending vertically in the elevator, one leg being adjacent the pit, aU- shaped boot connecting lower ends of said legs and disposed adjacentthe bottom of the grain pit, the grain pit being formed with an outletopening at its bottom communicating with the vlowerend portion of theleg adjacent the pit wthrough an opening in a side portion with saidleg,

driven by an electric motor 32 and havin a: j

discharge neck 33 whiclrcommunicates with a dust collector 34. Thiscollector separates weed seeds and light grain which may enter.the'collector from dust, the dusti'and light dirt "being dischargedthrough the foutlet pipe 35 which passes through the wall 36 ofthee'levator and the weed seeds and light grain "being dischargedthrough the outlet pipe 37 leading from the lower end of the separator,The seeds and light grain are known as screenings and are used as feedfor chickens and other poultry. A'baffle plate .38

at the entrance of pipe '30 serves to divert good wheat and prevent itfrom passing through'the pipe with the air and dust and weed seed andlight grain. r 1

The grain dumped from the buckets flows across the spreader board l8 sothat dirt,'weed seeds,

light grain may bewithdrawn bythe air'sucked" from the head through thepipe and since a certain amount of air will be sucked downwardly throughthe leg 8 from space 39 under the board; I8, as indicated by arrows inFigure 2, the wheat flowing from the lower end, of the board will be I;thoroughly cleaned and only'clean'grain of good quality will drop intothe hopper l9 and fpassfl through the spout 2|. I v V p I The belt I4must be kept sufiiciently tight to be frictionally held for drivingengagement with the pulleys I5 and Sand cause, it to move when 7 thedriving pulley ,l5-is turned and in order to'jj do so there has beenprovided belt tightening means associated with the pulley It. This belt,

tightcner consists of hangers-or rods 40 which extend upwardly'from theshaft 4! of the pulley' l8 and carry collars 42fuponiwhich rest, ends ofa heavy bar or block 43 formed of heavy-metal.

downwardly and tensions the belt so that as the j pulley 15 turns thebelt will be driven and moved longitudinally through the legs 7 and 8and the buckets will remove grain from the boot Band the lower portionof leg 7 and carry it upwardly The fact that the belt is held undertension also 1 serves to prevent the buckets from striking walls 7 Theweight of the block urges the pulley l6 a hollowhead with which upperends of the leg communicates a pulley rotatably mounted in said headbetween the legs, a bar extending between lower end portions ofsaidlegs, a pulley under the 8 bar, hangers extending downwardly fromthe bar and rotatably mounting the second pulley be- 1 tween armsof theboot with a lower portion of the pulley extending into the boot throughan openpit and downwardly through the-otherleg and about the pulleys andcarrying buckets, said hangers being shiftable-vertically through the:bar to tension the conveyor beltfa suction fan having an inletcommunicating with the-upper portion of the pit and an outlet neckextending 'at an upward inclineland communicating with the leg adjacentthe pit, theportion of thesaid tube between the fan andthe boot being of;in,- creased diameter, the bottom ofthe head being formed with anoutlet, a spreader bar extending rat a downward angle between thedownwardly,

moving portion of the conveyor belt and the outletof the head, and anair and dust outlet pipe 1 leading from the upper portion of the head.

, r LOUIS DELIVUK.

REFERENCES CI TED The following references are of record in file of thispatent: I e

v UNITED STATES PATENTS Number V 1 Name 1 Date 7 155,001 'Arbuckle, Jr.Sept. '15, 1874 1,381,570 Lininger June 14, 1921 1,433,754 Stone Oct.31, 1922 1,508,682 Dowdall Sept. 16, 1924v 1,561,777 Dowdall Nov. '17,1925 1,827,326 Moore 1Oct. 13, 1931 2,052,646 Osgood Sept. 1, 1936- 2,246,723 Delivuk June 24, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date the:

Great Britain 'Oct. 4, 1912

